Boots worn on Soul Train by dancer Johnette "Suki" Dodson: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

These hand-painted boots were worn as part of a costume along with a hand-decorated bra top and customized blue jeans. These boots are women’s size 7 1/2 mid-calf boots, with a side-zip closure on the inside leg and platform soles with 3 inch heels. The upper foot and legs of the boots are made of a black synthetic fabric, overpainted with orange, red, blue, and yellow neon paint, in panels and swirls that completely cover the base fabric and parts of the bottoms of the soles. The painted design is not symmetrical from one boot to the other. The boot soles are made of hard plastic and are covered in black fabric. The soles were customized using applied rubber decorations to create small repeating 3-dimensional circles. The bottoms of the soles are covered in a black matte thin rubber non-slip material that is worn off on the edges.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2001-2004
• Created by: Johnette Dodson, American
• Worn by: Johnette Dodson, American
• Manufactured by: Bee Fly
• Subject of: Soul Train, American, 1971 - 2006
• Medium: synthetic fiber, plastic, and paint
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Flat (a) ): 17 1/2 × 10 1/4 × 3 3/4 in. (44.5 × 26 × 9.5 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Flat (b) ): 17 3/4 × 10 1/4 × 3 3/4 in. (45.1 × 26 × 9.5 cm)
• Place used: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Popular music
• Object number: 2014.227.1.3ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Johnette Dodson known by her stage name "Suki"
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.